Survey of English Place-Names

Etymology

The township comprises the area of a wood called Wellington Hay, which became a manor in the 15th cent. Its history is set out in VCH XI 219–21. It lay within the royal forest of the Wrekin, and its bounds are set out 1301 SAC, together with those of other forest areas in Sa. It is the “king's wood of Welyngton Hay under le Wreken” 1380 Pat, the “bailiwick of Welynton Haye” 1392–3 InqMisc, “the said hay by the name of the chase of Welyntonhaye” 1398 ib. The use of ME  hay for divisions of forests is a regular feature of Sa nomenclature, probably arising from an amalgamation of Latin haia 'part of a forest fenced off for hunting' with the ME reflex of OE  (ge)hæg 'enclosure'.